Inside the Workshop

The Mizuno workshop has serviced the clubs of Europe’s leading professionals since its introduction in 1986. The latest incarnation of Mizuno’s European Tour Workshop was unveiled at the Wentworth Club in time for the 2010 BMW PGA Championship.

1984 & Beyond

The original Mizuno workshop heralded a new level of professionalism on the PGA European Tour. The project started in 1984 when Neil Coles and St. Georges Hill clubmaker, the late Barry Willett set up a temporary workshop at The Open in St. Andrews.

Previously competitors were restricted to the services offered by local professionals. Most would choose to visit Willett and his clubmaking team at St. Georges Hill pre-season to fine tune their equipment.

A New Era

The success of the 1984 Open equipment facility persuaded Coles that a mobile facility to follow the players on the PGA European Tour would help to close the gap in standards between European and the US.

To turn his vision to reality Coles turned to Mizuno for backing – a Japanese manufacturer that was becoming increasingly popular amongst the tour’s professionals. Mizuno and the European Tour embraced the idea and launched the Tours first Official Workshop – a facility for every player on tour.

The Mizuno workshop now attends any event on the PGA European Tour it can reach. With tournaments out of driving distance in South Africa, Australia and Malaysia the workshop is limited to 25 events a year, with its first showing of the season at the Portuguese Open in April.

The workshop’s increased office space and enhanced wireless communications are designed to allow faster feedback information to Mizuno’s R&D facilities. Swing DNA data of Mizuno’s contracted players can be studied in comfort on either of the 40″ or 32″ LCD screens. Mizuno’s players can watch their tournament live in HD on the workshop’s satellite connection, watch films on Blu-ray or use the built in PS3 – while their clubs are being built.